Political Quotes

“I recently had the pleasure of meeting with my friend, former Vermont State Representative Kiah Morris, who among many distinctions was only the second African-American woman ever elected to the Vermont Legislature. Kiah's talents are far-reaching. She has also been an actress of stage, film, and television, spoken word performance, as a singer, dancer, and arts manager. Whether as a legislator or on a theater stage, Kiah's work has focused on amplification of the voices of oppressed people, on human rights, and on social justice. It was in keeping that Kiah recently traveled to El Salvador and Honduras under the auspices of Oxfam America to meet with families struggling with the violence, poverty, lack of opportunity, injustice, and hopelessness that is causing thousands of destitute, frightened people to abandon their homes to seek refuge elsewhere. In those countries, Kiah saw where people had been gunned down, victims of gangs or corrupt police. She listened to the stories of threats and extortion, of kidnappings and deadly attacks, of fear and desperation. Inspired by the people she met and outraged by the brutality they described, she wrote a poem. I ask unanimous consent that Kiah's poem, which captures the essence of what the debate here over Central American refugees should be about, be printed in the Record.…”